Roe vs. Wade

Sunday

Jun 25, 2017 at 5:00 AM

I respond to the Associated Press article “Abortions in U.S. drop to lowest level since 1974,” that ran in The Dispatch earlier this year.

The Supreme Court decision, in Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion in 1973. The drop in the number of abortions can be attributed to two main reasons. One is the increased use of contraceptives, which helps eliminate pregnancy before an abortion occurs. The second, bigger reason, is the increased abortion restrictions.

For pro-lifers, this is great news. For women as a whole, we are chained by closed clinics and limited medical treatment.

President Donald Trump’s administration, and most Republicans, want to defund Planned Parenthood, which provides a third of the nation’s abortions. At the same time, congressional Republicans are trying to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which allowed the expansion of contraceptive coverage. Basic health care is being stripped from American women because of a politician’s need to save an unborn baby that is not his or hers.

Don’t get me wrong, I am no politician. I am only a 17-year-old girl in an AP Government class, and I am a feminist. The fact is that abortion is going to be a right until the day the United States is no longer free.

Until then, it is our duty as citizens to defend this right against the politicians treating it as a privilege. The landmark decision made in Roe v. Wade will stand strong, as guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, on the right side of history.

Anna Konold

Canal Winchester

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